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Jalapeno poppers are one of my most favorite things it the world. They are my go to dive bar food. I get them EVERY time I go to Sonic. I simply can’t get enough. So when I started to watch my diet, I knew right away I wouldn’t last long without these little bites of awesomeness in my mouth. The problem? The traditional jalapeno popper is a calorie laden, deep fried mess. So my mission was to create something as delicious as possible without dunking it oil.

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs (you only use about half, but the extra makes coating easier)

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp powdered ranch dressing mix

1/4 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, ground to bits

Here’s what you do!

1. While wearing gloves, slice the tops of each jalapeno, then slice down the middle so you have two even pieces. Use your fingers to remove the seeds and other random things from the center of the peppers

2. In a bowl, combine cream cheese, shredded cheese and scallion until well mixed. Fill each pepper with the mixture.

3. Combine panko bread crumbs, garlic powder, ranch mix, paprika, chili powder, and crushed red pepper. Add a little salt and pepper if you feel like it… you can never go wrong with some salt and pepper.

4. Roll each popper in the egg white, then in the panko mixture. Be sure to shake up the panko mixture after each popper to break up any clumps and to make sure the spices don’t sink to the bottom.

5. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until bread crumbs are golden brown and filling is hot and bubbly.

Okay… so it’s not technically a pie anymore. But let’s be honest, it’s a catchy name. Am I wrong?

Lemon meringue pie has been my favorite rare treats since I was eight years old. I can’t get enough of it. But sadly, when you are trying to eat healthier, you don’t get the luxury of a pie very often. And when you have the sweetest of sweet teeth, as I do, this can make you sad. That’s why I came up with this idea. These individual serving treats have all the goodness of a traditional lemon meringue pie with about half the calories and without that sad look on your face for having to cut a baby-sized slice!

Why inside out? Well, because meringues are one of the neatest things on the planet, that’s why!. That fluffy yumminess that usually sits on top of a lemon meringue pie can also be baked into a cookie that melts in your mouth! And since they are made with egg whites there are much lower in calories than a traditional cookie. So rather than mess with rolling out dough and blind baking pie shells and all that nonsense, I decided to just make meringue cookies. By piping them to form a sort of “bowl” there is a place in the center for a delicious lemon filling, and I topped it with some graham cracker crumbles for some crunchy goodness!

A couple of things to remember when you are preparing meringues:

Make sure there is no trace of shell or yolk in your egg whites when you separate them. Meringues, though delicious, are quite picky and will don’t behave properly if other parts of the egg try to join the party.

Use a very clean glass or metal mixing bowl. Plastic bowls can hold traces of oils that will make your egg whites angry. I did make meringue successfully in a plastic bowl once, but I’m sure it was dumb luck because I’ve had egg whites rebel from me for lesser offenses (possible story to come…one time I spent a whole two weeks making meringue based desserts… I destroyed many baby chicken souls).

Be excited when the eggs whites start working their magic. Because it’s just awesome how big and fluffy they get!

I know, I know. The carbs are up there. But I mean, it’s a dessert. You’re calorie content may differ if you make ingredient substitutions.

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Here’s what you need:

Meringue

2 egg whites at room temperature (save the yolks!)

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp lemon peel (optional, but I find it adds a nice flavor)

1/2 cup sugar (the finer the better. I can not attest to whether or not artificial or alternative sweeteners will work, I only had sugar)

Lemon Filling

1 egg + 2 yolks (remember how I told you to save them!)

1/4 cup sugar

the peel and juice from 1 1/2 lemons

3 tablespoons water

1 tsp cornstarch

Topping

1 1/2 graham crackers (I used a low-fat honey graham cracker. You can omit it if you wish, but I find that it is necessary. Have you ever tried the Jell-O Temptations Lemon Meringue Pie? It’s delicious, but the whole time I found myself saying “this needs a crusty bit”. Hence the graham cracker)

Equipment

electric mixer (I’m sure if you worked really hard you could whip it by hand… but that sounds like the least amount of fun ever. One time I tried making butter by hand like I was Amish… it didn’t go well)

1 medium/large bowl

spatula

piping bag and large decorating tip (a gallon zip-loc bag with a hole cut in the corner will work just fine)

The nice thing about this treat is that everything is made ahead of time. All you have to do is assemble it when you are ready to nosh. **Do not store assembled. Meringue cookies hate humidity and cold and will cry if they are exposed to either (I mean they will literally weep). Store the meringues in an air tight container, and the filling in the refrigerator.**

For the meringue cookies (aka the crust of our “pies”)

1. Pre-heat your oven to 200˚F

2. Take your parchment paper and trace six circles on it, roughly an inch apart. Flip the parchment paper over (so that the side you drew on if facing down) and place on the cookie sheet.

3. Combine egg whites, cream of tartar and lemon juice in medium/large bowl. Use mixer to whip them into submission. You will know you succeeded when the mixture is white, at least doubled in size and you can forms soft peaks.

4. Add lemon peel and salt to eggs. Continue to beat (medium/medium high-speed) and slowly add in sugar. You want to make sure the sugar is getting time is dissolve. If there are undissolved sugar crystals in the meringue when you bake them, you risk them caramelization… and then you will be a sad panda.

5. Continue to beat your egg whites until they become glossy and form stiff peaks. This is the one time I feel as though you can not over beat an egg white. I mean, don’t go to town for 20 minutes or anything. 5-7 minutes should be fine!

6. Use a spatula to transfer your meringue into your piping bag (1/3 to 1/2 the mixture at a time so you don’t make a mess). To create the “crust” starting piping in the center of one of the circles you traced and move in circles until you reach the line. Then go around the outside edge one last time; by doing this you create a sort of bowl for the filling to sit in!

7. Bake in the oven for 3 hours. Do your best to leave them alone. They are fine in there, I promise. After three hours the cookies should feel sort of hollow when tapped on the bottom and will pull away from the parchment paper easily. At this point you can either cool them on the counter, or turn off the over and leave them in there. Place in an airtight container to store.

**In a perfect world there would be no humidity to ruin the greatness that is a meringue. Unfortunately, the world is not perfect. It is best to make meringues on a non-rainy day. But if you simply can’t wait (I made mine while it was raining… in the Pacific Northwest… I don’t often get a choice) and they were fine. You just have to be mindful. If there is moisture in the air, leave the meringues in the oven while they cool. If you do everything right and your cookies still cry (they are emotional little buggars sometimes) simply place them in a 200˚ oven for 30-40 minutes and they will dry back out. I had to do that…and it wasn’t the end of the world.**

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For the filling

1. Place the egg, egg yolks and sugar in a small bowl. Attack with a whisk until nicely combined.

2. In a small sauce pan, combine lemon juice, zest and water. Heat until boiling (it’s not a lot of liquid, it won’t take long)

3. Once the lemon juice is at a boil, reduce the heat. Pour about 1/4 cup of the heated lemon juice into the egg/sugar mixture and mix well. This is called tempering and is essential to ensuring you don’t end up with sweetened scrambled eggs.

4. Pour everything in the sauce pan, add the cornstarch and cook, stirring constantly to prevent burning/sticking. The mixture will begin to thicken and bubble. It’ll be big bubbles… kind of like *ploops* and will begin to resemble pudding or custard.

Transfer to a storage bowl to cool. Store in the refrigerator until ready to eat!

Tasting time!

Each serving will have one meringue cookie and a little less than a tablespoon of lemon filling. Take 1/4 of a graham cracker, crush it up and sprinkle on top.